News and Media Releases

Guilty of laundering $745,050, 48-year-old Linda Nguyen was today sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment. She is eligible for release on recognisance after 9 months, and subject to a good behaviour condition for a further 5 months following release.

Sydney man Salim Mehajer, the former deputy mayor of Auburn in Western Sydney, was today sentenced in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, to 21 months’ imprisonment, to be released after serving 11 months. This followed the Court’s finding in April this year that he had committed 77 offences of electoral fraud.

Former Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Securency International Pty Ltd (Securency) employee Clifford Gerathy was today sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 6 months, after pleading guilty to his involvement in dishonestly recording a payment of $79,502 made by Securency to its Malaysian agent Abdul Kayum in 2006.

A Victorian-based registered tax agent, Brendan Harty was today sentenced to seven years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of four years and nine months in the County Court of Victoria. Mr Harty pleaded guilty to multiple counts of dishonestly obtaining $912,637.00 and attempting to obtain a further $46,029.00.

On 14 December 2017, 45-year-old Stephen Michael Remiens, was sentenced in the District Court of Queensland to two years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to child pornography offences.

Suspended Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer, 46-year-old Benjamin Hampton, was today sentenced by the District Court of New South Wales to a term of imprisonment of 22 months, to be released after serving a period of 11 months. Mr Hampton pleaded guilty to dishonestly receiving approximately $7,000 in cash as a reward for releasing information from a secure AFP database.

A Nigerian national, 34-year-old Jackson Igwebuike was sentenced on 25 October 2017, after being found guilty by a jury of importing 8.5 kilograms of methamphetamine into Australia.

Igwebuike was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court to 10 and a half years imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of six and a half years—including the two years he had already served since his arrest.

On 17 February 2017 Mr Raymond Clifford Osborne’s criminal convictions were overturned and he was acquitted of all charges by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.

Japan based shipping company, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha Ltd (NYK), was convicted and fined $25 million today in the Federal Court of Australia. It was the first modern criminal prosecution of cartel conduct in Australia.  The cartel involved collusion in fixing the freight rates and market shares for the international shipping of motor vehicles to Australia.

On 12 February 2016, Mr Jared Brown was convicted by a Victorian County Court jury of two charges of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.  The charges related to the importation of 48kg of pure methamphetamine into Australia.  The methamphetamine was concealed in motor vehicle engines, which were imported into Melbourne from California. 

On 4 December 2015 Mr El Sabsabi appeared before the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne where he pleaded guilty to two rolled up charges of doing acts preparatory to incursions into a foreign State, namely Syria, for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities.